[CliffFletcher]

I've mentioned Pinker's book The Better Angels of Our Nature on this forum before. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in history, current affairs, or psychology. We are indeed living in the least violent era of human history. Pinker cites several reasons for the dramatic reductions in violence, including the increased power of the state, the ties of commerce, decline of honour culture, and the expansion of empathy fostered by education and literacy.

What I find just as remarkable as the decline in violence is the stubborn resistance of so many to acknowledge the decline. Not only among conservatives, but among progressives. In fact, Pinker has come under fire most passionately from the left, not the right. It seems there is nobody so reluctant to recognize progress as a progressive.

Part of this is because of the persistence myths that many on the left still cling to - especially the naturalism fallacy and the blank slate myth. The notion that humans are naturally good and it's only oppressive and malign social structures that lead us to harm one another. And then there's the belief that in order to promote a cause you must foster a climate of crisis to attract and keep people's attention. So progress and positive advances cannot be acknowledged lest they take the steam out of the outrage machine.

But as Pinker argues, what could be more important than identifying and understanding what we've been doing right to bring about these positive changes. There's no reason to think we're immune to backsliding into the brutality of the past if we neglect the institutions and values that have enabled progress over the last 200 years.